Reed Sets Own Pace In New York Rat Race

April 4, 1993|By RAY MURRAY, Staff Writer

Darren Reed has finally discovered you can`t make the All-Star team in March.

In keeping with South Florida tradition for this time of year, Reed has decided to get a little sun, relax and not take life too seriously. A wiser veteran at 27, Reed knows he has a spot in the New York Mets outfield.

Hence the slower pace, the relaxed attitude. No more Herculean efforts.

``Spring training is a time to see pitches and get into shape,`` Reed said. ``It`s not to rise up to be a star like has happened in the past, where I`ve hit these home runs and what has it got me? It got me back to Triple-A.

``It doesn`t count.``

This is Reed`s second stop with the Mets, having been acquired in a trade with the Minnesota Twins on Nov. 18. He bounced from the Mets to Montreal to Minnesota before the latest trade. It almost got to the point that Reed had to check the morning paper to see what city he was playing in. But Reed doesn`t read the papers. Too many negative articles. So he`s happier... in media-mad New York.

Switching teams almost every season, along with battling enough injuries to test a patient`s patience, made Reed a permanent question mark.

Could he stay healthy? Can he produce? Is he a power hitter?

``I had to prove myself in every at-bat,`` Reed said. ``Every time I stepped on the field it was like a test, and that crap got really old.``

Landing back in New York has been therapeutic for Reed. He doesn`t have to swing for fences; stranding runners at second and third with a strikeout doesn`t mean another tour in Triple-A is on the horizon.

``They know what I can do here and they`ve pretty much told me what I`m going to do,`` Reed said. ``It`s not like, `You`re kind of a question mark, Darren, coming into spring training. We know you can play every day.`

``It`s important to me to know what my role is going to be. I`m more relaxed.``

Reed`s role is to fill in wherever needed in the outfield. Although he started his career as a catcher, Reed can play anywhere in the outfield.

``He gives us a lot of versatility,`` Mets coach Barry Foote said. ``He`s a guy who can hit the ball out of the ballpark. He`s got a lot of pop. He`s a good defensive player, so he should be a good fourth or fifth outfielder for us.``

Reed will provide backup to starters Vince Coleman, Ryan Thompson and Bobby Bonilla. He had a solid minor league career -- one he hopes he`s permanently left -- and totaled 76 home runs and 375 runs batted in with a .277 average.

The Mets first traded for him in December, 1987, in a deal with the Yankees, and Reed had three solid seasons before being promoted to the Mets for the final six weeks of the 1990 season.

Since then, it seems he`s faced more doctors than pitchers.

In his second at-bat with the Expos in 1991, Reed was hit by a pitch and fractured his right forearm. That wiped out 1991.

During his 20-day rehabilitation at Triple-A Indianapolis last spring, he pulled his left hamstring. He had played in one game.

Reed played in 42 games for the Expos, then 14 with the Twins before the Mets reacquired him. Returning to New York let Reed take a deep breath.

``It`s really more comfortable playing with the Mets than any other team because I`ve spent so much time with them,`` Reed said. ``I`ve gone back to the old coaches and they know what I can do.``

Being with the Mets has snapped the tension-filled cycle Reed was put through by his new team each year.

``I feel fine,`` Reed said. ``They give me a lot of playing time and I`m not trying to outdo myself. Every at-bat in the past has been do or die, hit a home run.``